April 06, 2009

This Week in Legal Times

Joe Palazzolo and Mike Scarcella take a look at the unraveling of the government's case against former Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens, whose conviction on corruption charges narrowly lost him his senate seat last year. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. moved to dismiss the case last week, after finding prosecutors improperly withheld evidence from Stevens' defense lawyers. Former prosecutors expect a shakeup in leadership in the department's Public Integrity Section, and they say Holder's move sends a message that extends far beyond the Stevens case.

For five years, the auto industry has been tied up in litigation across the country that challenges state-level caps on greenhouse gas emissions from cars. The industry hasn’t had much luck in the courts, but at least it had George W. Bush and his administration on its side. Now, it doesn’t even have that, reports Marisa McQuilken.
In his first week in office, President Barack Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to reconsider Bush-era policies that have been key to the auto industry’s efforts to resist the state emissions limits. The agencies have yet to act, but environmentalists are already declaring victory. They say it’s clear Obama is asking the agencies to reverse course, which they believe will undermine the legal arguments the auto industry has relied on.

Mark Foster and Zuckerman Spaeder's client roster is studded with top law firms. The list includes Milberg, McKee Nelson, and the last two years’ highest-grossing D.C. offices (Wiley Rein and Hogan & Hartson). That business could continue to grow. Foster says he usually handles roughly six legal malpractice cases in a year. This year, Foster already has six on his plate. Brian Katkin has this story on the man law firms have been calling for help.

And Eric Barendsen reports that a Swiss electronics developer wants to end America’s honeymoon with the iPhone, or at least with the iPhone’s e-book function. Monec Holding AG, based in Berne, Switzerland, filed suit March 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Apple Inc., producer of the popular iPhone. Monec, which makes and sells electronics for use in mobile communications systems, alleges that the iPhone infringes a 2002 U.S. patent it holds for an “electronic book.”